Vegetables - Alan's Cookbook

Green beans
I serve these more often than any other vegetable. They are
delicious, simple, and a great color contrast to most main courses.
Fresh green beans
Fresh grated salt
Most of the cooking time here is heating up the
kettle of water. I often use hot tap water to
shorten the cycle, on the grounds that the water
heater heats water more efficiently than my
stove anyway.
The key to cooking green beans really perfectly is
what Thomas Keller calls large pot boiling. Use
your largest boiling pot and fill it 2/3 with water.
When it is boiling hard, put in the beans. You’ll
know you have enough water if it doesn’t stop
boiling. If it stops boiling because your pot isn’t
large enough, never mind, you tried.
Cutting the ends off of green beans is a lot easier
if you do it a handful at a time. Grab a loose
handful and tamp it on the counter until all the
ends are against the counter. Lay it down and cut
a quarter inch off with a big knife. Repeat on the
other end. Voila!
Serves 4-6 per pound
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Bring a large kettle of water to boil. De-stem and
get the beans boiling as above. You want to get
them out when they are almost done, six to eight
minutes usually. This is because they keep
cooking in their own heat after you start taking
them off the stove. If they even try to start to
turn color, so they’re not bright green anymore,
haul them off of the heat immediately.
Dump into a strainer and then immediately into a
pan of cold water. This will turn tepid with the
heat from the beans. Drain it off and cover the
beans, which should be now just warm and still
bright green, until it’s time to serve. Wave a salt
grinder at them before serving.
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